$3.18 million investment will accelerate development of the country's coffee market

Today the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it will invest $3.18 million to strengthen efforts to rebuild the coffee industry in South Sudan and improve coffee farmer livelihoods.

The United States announced nearly $139 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the Yemen crisis today. The contribution will help meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable people in the Middle East's poorest and most food insecure country. Since the beginning of the current conflict in March 2015, approximately 2.7 million Yemenis have been displaced and over 20 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian protection and assistance. The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) estimates that at least 6 million people in Yemen are currently in need of life-saving food assistance.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it is providing nearly $68 million for emergency food assistance, to reach approximately 2.5 million Sudanese as well as refugees from South Sudan and other neighboring states. This assistance will be delivered through the World Food Program, which will help address the complex emergency arising from conflict, natural disasters and widespread displacement in Sudan, including those severely affected by the impacts of El Niño. This contribution brings total U.S. humanitarian assistance for Sudan to nearly $351 million since FY 2015.

Approximately $4.2M in Awards will Accelerate Innovative Solutions to Prevent Maternal, Infant Deaths in the Hardest to Reach Regions of the World

Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development announced three new award nominees in its fifth global call for groundbreaking solutions to protect mothers and newborns during their most vulnerable hours. These awards include two transition-to-scale awards (approximately $2 million each), which will support innovators with demonstrated proof-of-concept in transitioning their solutions towards scale, and one validation grant (approximately $250,000) to support the introduction and validate the effectiveness of the innovation to reach proof-of-concept.

Founder of Hello Tractor to attend President Obama's Global Entrepreneurship Summit in June

On Monday afternoon, Jehiel Oliver, founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, was chosen as the winner of the Global Innovation Challenge, an interactive pitch competition hosted by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at South by Southwest (SXSW).

Interactive pitch competition to highlight how technology has advanced global development

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will host an interactive pitch competition at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas on Monday, March 14 from 3:45 - 4:45 p.m. CT at Palm Door on Sixth, 508 E 6th Street.

On Wednesday, March 9, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Gayle Smith will give her first major policy speech at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, on Capitol Hill. Administrator Smith will join the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute to discuss her priorities for the next year, USAID's response to crises around the world, and the future of U.S. leadership in international development.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Gayle Smith announced today that the United States is dispatching a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to Ethiopia to help avert a crisis triggered by El Niño. The drought follows successive poor rainy seasons and is one of the worst to hit the country in decades. The DART, an elite team of disaster experts, will provide technical assistance to the Government of Ethiopia, conduct humanitarian assessments, and coordinate with the Ethiopia Government and humanitarian organizations on the ground to bring vital humanitarian aid - including emergency food assistance, seeds to plant new crops, safe drinking water, and nutrition treatments - to those in need. Administrator Smith also announced $4 million in drought-tolerant seeds that will help ensure that over 226,000 households can grow additional life-saving food in the coming months.

The United States is providing an additional $20 million in emergency food assistance for Iraq to address the humanitarian crisis resulting from the ongoing conflict, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart E. Jones announced today.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Thomas O. Melia will travel to Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina March 1 to March 9, 2016. This will be Assistant Administrator Melia's first visit to the Balkan region in his capacity as Assistant Administrator.

A new vaginal ring providing sustained release of the antiretroviral (ARV) dapivirine was shown to help reduce the chance of HIV infection during vaginal sex among women ages 18 and older. USAID, through the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, provided $25 million in support for the trial and ring licensure.

USAID Assistant Administrator Paige Alexander and Acting Assistant Administrator Thomas H. Staal will travel to the 2016 Supporting Syria and the Region Conference that will be held in London on February 4. Assistant Administrator Alexander and Acting Assistant Administrator Staal will join the U.S. delegation to the conference led by Secretary of State John Kerry.

The U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (USAID/ASHA) announced $23 million in funding to U.S. organizations and their overseas partners to support construction projects and to purchase equipment for 15 hospitals and clinics, 6 secondary schools, 16 universities, and 1 library. This year's projects, spanning 25 countries, are funded through a competitive annual award and directly support schools, libraries and medical centers outside the United States that advance innovation and best practices and build bridges between citizens of the United States and other countries.

New aid helps address the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the impact of El Niño

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Gayle Smith announced an additional $97 million in emergency assistance for Ethiopia today, to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis resulting from the impacts of the El Niño phenomenon.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Gayle Smith will lead the U.S. delegation to the 26th Annual African Union Summit. Joining the delegation will be Department of State Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Tom Malinowski, National Security Council Senior Director for Africa Cathy Byrne, USAID Assistant Administrator for Africa Linda Etim, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Don Booth, and Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa Tom Perriello.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partners have announced 16 prize winners under the Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge. USAID will award $10,000 to each winner and provide technical support to help them advance their solutions to stamp out illegal trade in wildlife. Winners are eligible to compete for one of four Grand Prizes worth as much as $500,000. USAID will use Grand Prizes to target and invest in the most promising solutions.

On January 28-29, U.S. Government officials, African energy experts, and private sector companies focused on advancing access to electricity in Africa will convene for the Powering Africa Summit. Power Africa partners will open the Summit with an in-depth conversation about the Power Africa Roadmap, which outlines how they will reach President Obama's goals of adding 30,000 new megawatts of cleaner electricity generation and connecting 60 million homes and businesses to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. They will also discuss the Power Africa Tracking Tool (PATT), a mobile app that provides previously unavailable data to increase transparency and drive more deals in the African energy sector.